A Familiar Sign
by AMMCS17
Summary: There's a boy who is looking for the master of the dojo but it seems that nobody's home at the Kamiya residence now. He decides to come in and heard shouts from the back of the dojo. What will happen then if he meets a certain redhead? Oneshot. Please R&R! :)


(**A/N**: Hi! Just finished reading the Rurouni Kenshin manga and I kinda wanted to make a oneshot of one of the characters that quite intrigued me. xD

You won't see his name on the character list I had put for this fic so it wouldn't be such a spoiler to my story. Anyway, if you had read the manga, you would probably recognize him on my very obvious description about him that would appear later on.

This is my first time writing a fic about another character on RuroKen other than Soujiro and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please **R&R**! :D )

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**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own any of the characters of Rurouni Kenshin. They are owned by Watsuki Nobuhiro, not me. :)

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_**This takes place on the 14th year of the Meiji Era and at the Kamiya Dojo**_

He had a hard time looking for this place but, at last, he's here. The Kamiya Dojo.

'_Finally..._'

Quite tired, he pants lightly and sighed.

"What a long trip from home." He said, inaudibly, fixing himself. He knocked at the front gate of the dojo.

"Hello?"

No reply.

"HELLO?" He said, louder this time.

Still, no reply.

He looked around to see if anyone might see him, but there's no one so...

'_I shouldn't be doing this..._' He hesitated but still, he opened the gate, carefully, in case it might creak. But it did anyway.

"I'm so sorry. Please-!" Looking around, he realized that he forgot that there was nobody home. "Oh..."

The Kamiya Dojo, he thought, looks like any other dojo except it seems like there was nobody around here for quite some time.

'_There's really nobody home... Maybe I should stay here while I wait for the master of this dojo? No... He'd think I was trespassing... But, I _am_ trespassing... Well, better get out of here before anyone sees me-_'

"Hiyah! Hiyah! Hiyaaaah!"

Eyes wide, he looked around. '_Nobody here._'

"Ha! Hiyah! Hiyaaaaah!"

Walking around, he gets closer to the sound and the louder it gets...

"I will defffffeat youuu... plant!"

'_Plant?_'

Now, he was at the backyard. He saw a small red-haired boy, hitting an innocent plant with a shinai.

"Take dat! And... dat!"

Seeing that the plant was getting bald from its falling leaves, he said, "Don't hurt the poor thing."

The readhead faced him, pointed his shinai at him, and said, "I will defffffeat youuu!"

Then he charged at him.

"Hiyaaaah!"

He, now being charged at, moved to his side, dodging the redhead's attack.

As his attack failed, the redhead fell to the ground.

" *sniff sniff* "

"Oh... no. Please, don't-"

Too late.

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kneeling beside the fallen attacker, he was trying his best to shush the crying boy.

"Sshh. Sshh. Please, keep quiet. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What's going on here, Kenji?" A low voice said.

Looking up, he saw a black-haired young man, carrying a shinai and a sakabatou at his waist belt.

"What happened to him?" The young man asked, a more worried tone he has than an angry one.

"I'm so sorry! I knocked at the front gate, but no one answered then I came in then I realized I was trespassing then-"

"I'm not asking about _you_, I'm asking about _him_!"

"Oh.. Well, he charged at me but I dodged him then he fell then he started crying then you came-"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"That's enough! Jeez, you're only making it worse." The young man helped the crying boy called Kenji to stand up. But Kenji still didn't stop crying.

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"I'm so sorry!" He said, again, bowing this time.

"Yeah, yeah. But all those apologies doesn't help in making this kid stop crying."

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"I'm so-"

Didn't know what to do. But he did what anyone would least do at a situation like this... He ran.

"Hey! Where are you going? Hey-"

He ran away from the crying boy and the young man and to the other side of the gate.

The young man's eyes catch a glimpse of the back of the retreating figure.

**惡 (Evil)**

"_Evil_... Why does he have a sign like that on his back? Is he-?"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Nevermind. I'll deal with him later and now I need to make Kenji stop crying. Kaoru will kill me if she sees-"

"What happened?!" a woman's voice shouted.

Turning around, the young man saw a woman with long black hair, beside her was a red-haired man, carrying a bucket of tofu, and behind them was the boy who caused all this.

He slumped his body and sighed. How can he explain all this?

{_a few seconds ago_}

He ran away. From the crying boy and the young man and to the other side of the gate.

Outside of the dojo, he stopped and faced the gate, thinking of going back.

'_I need to go back... But I've caused so much trouble and-_'

"Hello, there."

To his left, he saw a smiling face and a tired one. A woman and a man, respectively.

"Hello."

"Are you looking for someone?" Her big blue eyes met his brown ones.

"Uh... Hai. I was... I _am_... looking for the master of this dojo."

"That would be me. But I'm just an assistant master. My late father is the master of this dojo."

"Oh... Well, I-"

"How about we come inside?" the man carrying a bucket of tofu suggested.

"Oh, yes. Come on." She came in the dojo and gestured the boy to come in, too.

He waved his hands in the air, saying, "Oh... I'd better not-"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A look of surprise, worry, and anger came across the woman's face.

"Excuse me." she said to the boy. But she didn't wait for a reply and ran to the backyard.

"Oh, no..."

"Come on." said the man to the boy. His voice was firm, but not angry.

The boy just nodded and followed the man to the backyard.

{_now_}

"Yahiko, what happened?!"

"Kaoru. I... He... Well..." Yahiko didn't know what to say. He can blame the boy but Kaoru would think he was just making an excuse.

But the boy can't take it any longer...

"I-I did it."

"You did what?" Kaoru almost shouted. _Almost_. She can't shout at her guest and maybe, just maybe, her new student. That would be rude.

"I'm the one who made this boy cry..."

Kaoru inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"Just tell me what happened."

He composed his thoughts and said in one breath, "I entered the dojo to see if anyone's around but there was really no one here then I heard some shouts at the back so I went to check it out and found this boy," He pointed at Kenji, "hitting a plant then I said 'Don't hurt the poor thing.' then he suddenly charged at me then I dodged him then he fell to the ground then he started crying then he came," He pointed at Yahiko, "then he started shouting and the boy was crying so loud and... and-"

"And?"

"I ran... and met you and him." He pointed at the red-haired man.

Then suddenly, something hit him. Not physically, but in his thoughts.

The red-haired man and the red-haired boy- who seemingly stopped crying when the woman named Kaoru and the man arrived- looked alike. Very much alike.

"Is he your son?" Looking at both Kaoru and the man.

"Oh... Yes, he is." Kaoru's tone suddenly became calm.

"Oh... I'm very sorry." He bowed.

"It's ok." She smiled. She picked up Kenji and carried him in his arms. "At least, he didn't get really hurt."

A peaceful and calm scene was now taking place.

"Excuse me, but do you know what that sign at your back means?" the man suddenly asked.

That, now, caught the attention of Kaoru and Yahiko.

"Kenshin..." Yahiko barely said.

The boy was used to this question so his answer sounds like it has been rehearsed.

"Yes, I do. It's the sign a strong man, that I look up to, wears at his back. It's the real reason why he fights to the very end..."

His bangs, now, covered his eyes. Then a smile formed out of his lips.

"Ah, I see. Are you, perhaps, the son of Sagara Sanosuke?" Kenshin implied.

He looked up, now with a determined look.

"No, sir... I am his brother,"

"Oro?"

"...Higashidani Outa."

This is a day where everyone present at the Kamiya Dojo will never forget.

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(**A/N**: Well, I know that Outa here seems out of character since he didn't talk much at the manga, but, hey, people change as they grow older. ;D I hope you enjoyed it! :D Leave a review! xD)


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